Mexico City, Mexico – Twelve years after the forced disappearance of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teachers’ school, the Mexican government has presented a report with new findings.
The new lines of investigation presented today by Undersecretary for Human Rights Arturo Medina expand the circle of suspects involved in the mass disappearance and shed light on new actors.
Meanwhile, victims’ parents continue to denounce attempts to conceal the role of the Mexican Army in the crime.
On the night of September 26 and into the early hours of September 27, 2014, local police and criminal groups attacked students from the Ayotzinapa teachers’ college in Guerrero, on Mexico’s western coast, as they traveled toward Mexico City to attend a march.
Since then, relatives have fought tirelessly to learn the whereabouts of their children, the reason behind their disappearance and who gave the order.
During a press conference, Undersecretary Medina announced new lines of investigation resulting from a review of previously analyzed documents and new telephone records, leading to 17 new suspects now under investigation and fresh arrest warrants.
The main finding centers on local business owners who run a funeral service linked to the Mexican government’s Forensic Medical Service. Suspect Rodolfo “N,” owner of the El Angel funeral home, had used the cellphone of student Julio Cesar Mondragon Fontes, who was killed on the night of the mass disappearance.
Unlike his classmates, Mondragon Fontes did not disappear on the night of September 26, his body was found with gunshot wounds and the skin of his face removed.
In 2025, authorities carried out a search of the funeral home, where they found skeletal remains, weapons of exclusive use of the military, and an undocumented clandestine furnace. Authorities are currently investigating whether the remains are linked to other disappearance cases.
The investigations also resulted in the arrest of the former Governor of Guerrero, Ángel Aguirre Rivero, in August 2026, for allegedly concealing video recordings from cameras belonging to the Guerrero Superior Court of Justice. Aguirre remains under the authority of law enforcement on charges of forced disappearance.
Despite the new findings, the parents of the victims insist that the current government of President Claudia Sheinbaum continues to protect the army and refuses to hand over key information needed to clarify the case.
Specifically, the Ayotzinapa parents are demanding the handover of 850 military intelligence files linked to the case.
The military’s involvement in the state crime has been a breaking point between the parents and the Morena-led government, ever since then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied the involvement of the armed forces in the case, which led to a halt in communication between the parents and López Obrador’s government in 2023.
During the march, the parents recalled that among the 43 missing students was an infiltrated soldier, Julio Cesar López Patolzin, a member of the armed forces who is believed to have carried out intelligence activities for the army as a spy inside the Ayotzinapa teachers’ college.
Teachers’ schools in Mexico have historically been bastions of social change and resistance against the government. The ‘normalista’ tradition saw rural teachers take up arms against the government during the second half of the 20th century, and students continue to be involved in confrontations with the government today.
The Ayotzinapa case has left a mark on Mexico’s modern history. What was classified in 2022 as a state crime due to the clear involvement of government agents is now a painful testament to violence and impunity in the country and to the degree of collusion between organized crime and the Mexican government.
Featured image credit: Ayotzinapa anniversary march, September 28, 2015.
Featured image credit: Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos via Flickr.
